Few
people have a favorite dictionary for leisure reading and even fewer would choose
the all-inclusive Oxford English Dictionary.

"It
has over half a million words in 20 volumes and no word ever goes out, even if
it's obsolete. It is a true record of the English language," Anu Garg said.

Anu Garg, who runs the e-mail service A Word A Day, poses at his East Columbus
home in front of his computer and dictionaries. The Word A Day service, found
on the Internet at wordsmith.org, features a daily word, its etymology and
a quote using the word. Photo
by Tim Nrman

The
dictionary of dictionaries often serves as the fuel for Garg's passion, the A
Word A Day "wordserver."

Garg's
creation, located on the Internet at wordsmith.org, provides a new word each
day with its definition, usage, pronunciation and an inspiring quote of the day
to more than 360,000 linguaphiles in 195 countries.

"The
best thing about this is the community of linguaphiles ... I feel very privileged
to be a part of it."

--Anu GargA Word A Day operator

Linguaphile
(LING-gwuh-fyl): n, a lover of languages and words.

"I
was always very fascinated with words and one day I thought it would be nice if
everyday I signed on to my computer it would show me a new word," he said.

From
this the word-a-day subscription service was born on March 14, 1994.

Through
word of mouth -- and, later, coverage in more than 300 publications -- the server's
popularity grew from 1,279 word lovers in 1994 to its present-day total.

"The
best thing about this is the community of linguaphiles. They are very devoted
and compassionate and provide good feedback and interesting ideas. I feel very
privileged to be a part of it," Garg said.

Each
week Garg chooses a theme and the words that will be sent to his subscribers.
This week's theme is unusual synonyms.

Tocology,
also known as the science of childbirth, is one of the words in this theme. Tokos,
the root of the word, is Greek for childbirth but obstetrics is commonly used
instead.

Garg was featured
in the December 2000 issue of Smithsonian Magazine and has seen the wordserver's
popularity swell even more since.

"It's
interesting to see how far the Smithsonian Magazine goes. I've received e-mail
from all over the world in response to that article," Garg said.

In
addition to a daily word e-mailed to your computer, anyone can e-mail the wordserver
and request a definition, synonym, anagram or that an acronym be expanded.

Having
the server based as an e-mail utility instead of the many Web-based word-a-day
servers found today helps because e-mail is the most-used application of the Internet.
In 1994, it was far more popular than Web surfing, Garg said.

A
subscription to the word-a-day service is free and only requires that one be a
lover of words and have an e-mail address. To subscribe, go to wordsmith.org.

"Right
now it's a labor of love but we are looking to generate revenue somehow in the
future," he said. Garg said he isn't sure yet how he will use his Web site
to make money but is considering a few alternatives including advertisements and
corporate sponsorship.

More
than 20 hours of research each week goes into selecting the themes and words and
answering e-mail from subscribers and maintaining the site, which receives 12,000
hits every week, Garg said.

Stuti
Garg, Anu Garg's wife, also spends much of her time with the wordserver recording
the pronunciation of every word sent out.

Garg
lives on Columbus' East Side and is a consultant for AT&T Labs in Reynoldsburg.
He is from northern India and received his master's degree in computer science
from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1995.